The Novel According to Irving

 

John Irving found he needed to know where he was heading in order to get there when writing The World According to Garp, perhaps his best-known novel. He didn't realize it till he got to the end, however.

When Irving began the novel, he wrote, "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases." He thought he was writing the novel's first line. Then he thought it would be more effective as a conclusion to the first chapter. 

"First I thought it was the first chapter, then the second, then it slowly made its way through the novel until I finally realized it was the end." Of course, the line ended up being the book's final sentence. 

Since Garp, Irving says he has always focused on the final line before moving on to the rest of the story. "That makes it as if the story already happened to me. I already know what I need to say and only need to focus on how to say it — the language and structure and tone." 

Not all authors agree.

Find out more about Irving and Garp at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7069.The_World_According_to_Garp